From Sweet to Elite! VSU Lady Blazers upset top seeded Union, 66-58

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - Revenge was a dish best served early and often on Monday night as the seven seeded Valdosta State Lady Blazers avenged a regular season loss at top seed Union 66-58 to advance to the program’s first Elite Eight since 1984.

The first half belonged to the visitors as VSU (26-5) took a 33-19 lead into the halftime locker room, outscoring the Bulldogs (28-3) 16-7 in the game’s second period. However the South Regional’s top seed showed just what it was capable of in the third quarter, cutting the Lady Blazer lead to just three on several occasions.

The underdogs from VSU responded, hitting timely threes and going on a run of its own putting the game away with late free throws and securing the upset.

“The other piece of maturity is you know you’re not going to hold another team like that down so you have to know that they’re going to go on a run and when they do that not be surprised by it,” Said Head Coach Deandra Schirmer of her veteran squad. “In those moments you could see our senior leadership, you could see our veteran players bringing it together and making sure everyone was locked in.”

Grad Student Forward Nicole Heyn led the way for the Lady Blazers with a double double putting up 10 points and 16 rebounds as well as three assists. Fellow Graduate Student Kwajelin Farrar kept up her end of the bargain in the paint leading all VSU scorers with 19 points.

Up next for the Lady Blazers is the Elite Eight in Birmingham, Alabama. The final eight teams will be reseeded and face off in the quarterfinals on Monday, March 21st.